


road to nowhere

by sambumblebee



Series: this was not how it was supposed to go [1]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, Huddling For Warmth, Let's Spoon But Totally For Tactical Reasons And Nothing Else, M/M, cody has had Enough, i think that makes sense, jedi idiocy, just go with it, obi-wan is a cheeky bastard, over protective bastards get mad at each other for being reckless, post-satine but pre ahsoka leaving, right???, somewhat canon compliant, trapped together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambumblebee/pseuds/sambumblebee
Summary: A simple mission. A lull in the endless ebb and flow of war. An outdated Jedi distress signal coming from a backwater planet in the Outer Rim. General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Cody, and three clone troopers go to investigate. What could go wrong?Or -A commander and his general are forced to grapple with complicated emotions when a cave-in traps them on an inhospitable, cold mountain ledge for a night.
Relationships: AND NO REX/OBI-WAN EITHER, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, NO CLONC3ST THANKS
Series: this was not how it was supposed to go [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826539
Comments: 20
Kudos: 179





	road to nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> a HUGE thank you to my friends Lo, Alex, Em, and Katie for reading this over for me and bearing with me as i agonized over every edit. i couldn't have done it without you!
> 
> i hope you all enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it!
> 
> \- sam (@mandobiwan)

A simple mission. A lull in the endless ebb and flow of war. An outdated Jedi distress signal coming from a backwater planet in the Outer Rim. _“It’s probably a trap, sir-”_ Cody had warned, before General Kenobi responded with his usual raised eyebrow and hint of a cocky lopsided smile, _“but if it isn’t, we cannot ignore it. And besides, when have we ever backed down from a challenge?”_ Cody did not think this was a Jedi signal — what Jedi would come to this planet that had no name, no people, no known history? It seemed awfully convenient, too, that the signal was so sudden and so clear, near the peak of an easy-to-spot mountain at the heart of an expansive forest. Despite his reservations, he went with Kenobi. Who else would save his skin if it all went to hell?

And so, here they were - Commander Cody, three additional clone troopers, and one General Obi-Wan Kenobi - on an unnamed, seemingly unpopulated, densely forested planet, tracking a suspicious signal and navigating their way through a foreboding sandstone cave system in a lonely, impossibly tall mountain.

He should be used to this by now. Cody was bred for battle, trained to know every rule in the book and to know when to adapt, and he had worked with his General, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, since just after the beginning of the Clone Wars. He knew Kenobi almost better than he knew himself. And yet, in these small missions, outside of the heat of battle, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat off-balance, exposed, vulnerable. Not because he thought he couldn’t handle it, but because there was no tactical strategy or procedure to hide behind, no clear end goal, no commands to obey or relay, no weapons to draw or avoid, and no way to predict what lay ahead.

A tiny chunk of gravel skittered down the tunnel before them. Cody quickly aimed the light of his scope at the sound, the beams slicing through the darkness, on high alert.

“Just a rock, Cody, nothing to be alarmed about,” Kenobi murmured, briefly laying a hand on the commander’s arm, as if to comfort him, an easy, instinctual gesture. “The signal seems to originate from somewhere up head — we’re close, I can sense it.” The blue light of his drawn saber eerily illuminated the walls of the cave and hollowed out strange shadows on his face; his cheekbones were sharp, eyes bright under shaded brows. Always ready, always precise.

“There’s a difference between being alarmed and being prepared, sir,” he remarked dryly. Kenobi rolled his eyes nearly imperceptibly and smirked in response. Cody motioned for his men to continue, and they fell in line beside him, one of them advancing slightly ahead to scan for anything out of the ordinary. General Kenobi halted in his tracks. His eyebrows knitted together in one of his customary brooding expressions. “What is it, General?”

“Something feels… wrong,” he said, tilting his head ever-so-slightly. It took half a second for the other troopers to realize that they’d stopped. “Look, up ahead,” he said with narrowed eyes. “It’s blocked off.”

He was right - a mountain of boulders formed an impenetrable wall at the end of the tunnel. Cody sighed and shook his head. “We have to turn back.”

The man in the lead, a determined young clone who went by the name Dart, began to say, “General, I think there’s something here, it’s -”

It should not have been possible. But Cody had long since learned that “impossible” was not a word in Kenobi’s vocabulary. One moment, Dart’s foot was shifting ever so slightly on the ground, and the next, everything turned to blinding white. In the span of no more than half a heartbeat, the rush of determined energy that was General Obi-Wan Kenobi flung the clone back towards Cody, nearly bowling him over, and simultaneously propelled himself in the opposite direction, as what must have been a mine detonated beneath them. Cody knew it was illogical, that there wasn't enough time, that the Force did not aid him in the same way that it did the Jedi; but that did not stop him from running towards the general, pushing his troopers behind him and attempting to throw himself between Kenobi and the very explosion he was trying to protect them from. The blast should have obliterated all of them, but an unseen wall of force pushed all four clones back, just out of reach of the flying debris and hungry flames.

_“General!”_

In the heat and shock, Cody tried to resist the push, tried to dig his heels into the splitting stone floor, hands raised to block flying shrapnel, and for an instant, he made desperate eye contact with Kenobi through his visor as the Jedi crashed through the wall of boulders behind him. He stretched out a hand helplessly, and then everything went dark as tumbling rocks thundered down around them.

_This was not how it was supposed to go._

His head reeled. He was dizzy, winded, but he could breathe, he could hear through the ringing of his ears, he could feel his legs, his fingertips, his pounding heart. He flicked his helmet lights back on, finding that, to his dismay, he was alone, trapped between one caved-in pile of boulders sealing up the tunnel behind him and another in front that had sealed itself back up again after his general had been launched through it.

_Kenobi._

All he could see in his mind’s eye was that final image of the Jedi’s body crashing through stone, followed by a cloud of dust as the explosion died down, and then nothing. They had survived worse, he thought, but he could not stop his mind from racing. General Kenobi always had to be the blasted hero, didn’t he? The logical thing to do would have been to pull back, accept poor Dart’s fate and save himself and the rest of them, but no, Kenobi’s stubborn, self-sacrificing, compassionate heart had never even considered it. Cody found that he _resented_ it, and paused momentarily to mull over this bitter taste on his tongue, the unfamiliar, strangely selfish sensation stewing inside him.

What if that was it? The last time he’d ever witness Kenobi recklessly throw himself in harm’s way to protect others, to protect _Cody_?

If it was, he hoped it hadn’t been for nothing.

“Dart? Ev? Hotshot? Is anyone still here?” Cody called out, trying not to jump to conclusions. To his great relief, he heard coughing from the other side of the rubble behind him. He turned to face the sound, trying to pinpoint it through several feet of collapsed stone.

“Commander! We’re here, sir.” It was Ev, the oldest of the troopers. He sounded winded, but otherwise fine.

“Is anyone injured?”

“No, sir. Dart’s a little shaken up, but we’re fine. What should we do now, Commander?”

Cody sighed with relief, then looked around him once more. A blackened hole had opened up where the mine had gone off. Beyond it, Cody thought he could see light filtering through near the top of the collapsed exit. Light meant hope. He knew they were high up in the mountain, too high for anyone to climb without going in the way they’d just come, the way that had just been blocked off. 

“Go back out and signal for help.”

“But what about you, sir? And General Kenobi?”

“We’ll be fine.” _He better be._ Cody tried the comms. Nothing. _Damn it._ “Comms are out. Just tell the Council what happened. They’ll send someone.”

“That’ll take all night, sir!”

“We don’t have much choice. I’ll get to Kenobi, you signal for help. _Go!”_

He heard movement, an unsure _“good luck, sir,”_ and then they were gone. Cody sighed, resting his head on the boulder behind him. He had been right, even though he wished he hadn’t. It had been a trap, a mine disguised as a distress call, by some vengeful troublemaker hoping someone would fall for it. He got to his feet and examined the small crater before him. Gray-black soot now coated the entire space. Pieces of the ceiling still crumbled, a reminder of the ticking clock. No way of knowing when the cave would come crashing down again. He skirted around the edge of the dangerously unstable cavity, feet shuffling carefully. And then there was the towering mound of boulders that Kenobi had been catapulted through, once again closed up behind him. Cody eyed the sliver of light near the top. He saw no other options besides staying here and waiting for the air to grow stale, like some sort of cowardly, cornered creature. 

_This is a bad idea._

He already knew what Kenobi would say if he saw him doing this. But Kenobi wasn’t here, which was precisely why he had to. So Cody steeled himself, placed the detonator near the top of the stack of stones, and clicked the button.

  
  
-  
  
  


The wall of boulders broke partially due to the exploding mine, and partially due to Obi-Wan Kenobi hurtling towards it with alarming speed. It probably should have broken his back, too, but miraculously, he felt only bruising. His whole body ached from his unfortunate impact with the blocked off tunnel exit. At least it had been an exit, and not an actual solid stone wall, which might have killed him. Instead, he had found himself outside, perched precariously on a ledge on the steep mountain face. He tried to catch his breath, to reel his thoughts in. Cody’s desperation stuck in his mind. He knew his commander well, knew that he valued tactical logic and loyalty above all, but he had tried to move _towards_ the explosion, towards him, for some inexplicable reason that he could not wrap his head around. He hoped against his better judgement that he and the others had made it. He thought they had - he’d pushed them as far as he could, and the force of that push had tamped down the flames somewhat. But he couldn’t say for sure.

_This was not how it was supposed to go._

Setting suns in the distance, no signs of civilization in sight, the ground unnervingly far below. It would have been beautiful if not for the circumstances that had led him here. As he picked himself up, he thought bitterly that the stunning landscape must be mocking him somehow, reminding him that even though his companions might be dead and he could die out here alone, the world around him still went on. He looked out across the forest and plains, jagged mountains in the distance mirroring the one he stood upon. The tiny outcropping felt so vulnerable and exposed, no cover, no plant life, no way down, no way up, just a ledge jutting out from an unforgiving stony peak. And the whole mission was a bust, a trap just as Cody had predicted. _Oh, Cody_. Ever the realist. A man after his own heart, the difference being that Obi-Wan was not bred for battle, but raised as a Jedi and taught compassion by his strong-willed master.

He raised his forearm to speak into his com link. “Commander Cody? I’m afraid I’ve been stranded. Can anyone hear me?”

It was no use. The signal seemed to have disappeared, and all he heard was static. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Someone would come looking eventually, of course, but for a brief moment, he hated the waiting, the infuriating knowledge that he had no control over this situation, no possible way of escape, this complete reliance on the help of others that he couldn’t even communicate with.

_What if I’m the only one left?_

No. What was the point of thinking like that? He needed to concentrate, to get his bearings, to take his mind off of the horrifying thought that he could have just seen Cody for the last time, that he could have saved them if he’d sensed the mine just a moment before, that it was his _fault -_

_No._

Jedi were not supposed to form attachments. He knew this. He had experienced the fallout before. But Cody was _different._ Cody was a commander, a deeply integral part of the war effort, the battle to keep the Republic safe and just, so shouldn’t he care? This was allowed, wasn’t it? To have empathy? To see the value in another person’s life? He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. He allowed his barriers to lower just enough for him to reach out with his mind, letting the Force flow through him, grounding himself. Obi-Wan thought he felt something, then, something familiar, something comforting and -

And then a blur of white and orange erupted out of the caved-in tunnel behind him along with a healthy spray of dust, gravel, and smoke, bowling him over and resulting in a tangle of limbs, armor poking into ribs, legs twisted under knees, hips clashing, and one helmeted head nearly knocking him unconscious.

When the dust cleared, Obi-Wan found himself pinned down under the weight of his very own Commander Cody, both of them gasping for air and groaning from their collision. For a split second, everything shuddered to a halt. Obi-Wan’s breath fogged up against Cody’s visor. He could still feel his pulse racing. Then, without thinking, Obi-Wan laid his hands gently on either side of Cody’s helmet and brought their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Obi-Wan said breathlessly, heart still in his throat.

“Oh, you know me, General. I wouldn’t let a little cave-in get the best of me.”

_Never change, Cody,_ he thought to himself. But what he said instead was, “Of course not, how silly of me.”

Cody tried to get up, but their legs were tangled together, and he wound up sprawled out over Obi-Wan, only this time at a different angle.

“Sorry, sir, I-”

Obi-Wan laughed as Cody struggled to extricate himself. He couldn’t help it; seeing his dignified commander clumsily attempting to get up amused him to no end. When Cody finally managed to roll over and sit beside him, Obi-Wan pushed himself up into a more comfortable seated position.

“Well, so much for that distress signal,” he said after a moment.

Cody slipped his helmet off and wiped the sweat off his brow, which was a rather… _distracting_ gesture. With his usual subtly smug tone, Cody said, “Don’t want to say I told you so, but…”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Yes, I know, you told me so. I concede, my dear.” The chaos of their reunion now over, he looked over his shoulder at the once-more collapsed tunnel exit. “Dart… your men, are they-?”

Cody’s gaze was unreadable as he appraised Obi-Wan. Something akin to appreciation, or perhaps even reverence, flickered across his face. “They’re all fine, thanks to you, sir. They’re getting help, but it won’t be here until at least dawn — our transport can’t get here safely, and we can’t risk collapsing the tunnel more.”

Obi-Wan sighed deeply at that — just his luck.

“Speaking of the tunnel, General, are you alright? That was quite the blow you took, going through the wall like that.”

He tried not to let too much of his rapidly beating heart show itself in his voice, always moved, despite his tendency to perform annoyance, by his commander’s concern. “I’m fine, Cody, just a little sore. I’m glad you’re safe.”

Cody still looked troubled, and he started to say, "I'm sorry, sir, we should have-" but Obi-Wan cut him off with a look and a wave of his raised hand. And yet, a darker swirl had begun to emerge from Cody's Force signature, even through the commander's mental defenses.

For a moment, they sat there in silence as they caught their breaths. Obi-Wan tried not to think about the brief panic and dread he had experienced only a few minutes before. How could he possibly communicate that Cody had no reason to apologize, that the only thing he should _ever_ have to apologize for was scaring Obi-Wan half to death by nearly dying without saying goodbye? He couldn’t say any of that. He wasn’t even sure he could put it into words. He hadn’t even realized that he’d harbored those emotions at all until he had, for a split second, held Cody’s life in his hands and then found himself completely alone without any way of knowing if he’d even saved him. 

So instead, he did what he did best, and used his dry wit as a defense. “I can’t believe you unceremoniously _blasted_ your way out after I went through the trouble of saving you.”

The clone commander’s indignant sputtering elicited another stifled laugh from Obi-Wan. “Well, sir, I couldn’t exactly get out on my own, so I used a detonator.”

“You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“I could have suffocated if I didn’t try."

"And a _detonator_ was your only option?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.

"It worked. And, frankly, General, we’re meant to be expendable.”

Obi-Wan’s gaze narrowed. “Not to me, you’re not.”

He knew that his commander never really believed him, but he did his damndest to remind him of it whenever he could. From Geonosis to Ryloth to the command deck of a warship, they had been through hell together, and Obi-Wan wasn’t about to let him forget it. He looked at Cody for another beat, and when their eyes met, he felt a warmth blossoming in his chest, a deep fondness that he hadn’t expected. He would never admit it, but when he had made it out of that tunnel, he had feared the worst. Knowing that he was safe, that he wasn’t alone, that somehow, against all odds, they had wound up together again — that meant more than he could ever possibly express.

As he contemplated, Obi-Wan gradually began to sense the beginnings of something hot and volatile emanating from Cody, the source of which he could not place. Cody was a quick and dedicated learner, and it hadn’t taken him long to master the art of building mental barriers to shield himself from other Force users, but this emotion spilled out relentlessly, flowing out over the dam, flooding out around him. This was not Anakin’s explosive frustration, nor was it Ahsoka’s fearless determination. This was something else, something that he wasn’t sure Cody was aware of the way a Force user would have been. He turned to Cody to try to gauge the cause of this bubbling anger and was met with a hardened gaze with furrowed brows and a bitter tilt to his mouth. 

“Sir, with all due respect, you can’t act so self-sacrificial all the time. Strategically, it makes little sense, and in the grand scheme of things, you dying in a cave trying to heroically save a couple of soldiers could very well leave the Grand Army of the Republic in a very bad position.”

Before he could say anything in response, Cody jabbed an accusatory finger at Obi-Wan’s chest, the waves of anger and distress crashing all around them now. He scrambled to his feet, and Cody followed quickly with his hand still aimed at Obi-Wan’s heart.

“And you know what, General? Don’t accuse _me_ of almost getting myself killed as if you don’t pull stunts like that every damn day! Because it’s only okay if you do it, right? Stars forbid others try to look out for _you_!”

Obi-Wan still struggled to comprehend his commander’s level of anguish, and, for the life of him, he still could not tell why it was centered around _him._ “Cody, I don’t-”

“You don’t _what?_ Understand? No, you don’t!” Cody’s fury was palpable as he backed Obi-Wan up to the heap of boulders, but it wasn’t real anger. It was tinged with something deeper. As he shouted, Obi-Wan noticed a shine to Cody’s eyes, a tremor in his voice, the energy around him unstable. “You act as if your life means nothing! You threw yourself at that mine without a second thought, and for what? For a few clones? You can’t just go running at explosions like that! The Republic needs you, General! _I_ need you!”

As soon as the words came out of Cody’s mouth, all the fight left him. He stood there, panting, his mouth agape, his hand slowly lowering from where it had been planted firmly in the center of Obi-Wan’s chest. The weight of what he had just said dawned on him visibly, washing over him like this episode had been a passing cloud casting him in shadow. The wild, desperate look in his eyes faded into a panicked fear tinged with regret.

_I need you._

A giant’s fist gripped Obi-Wan’s ribcage as he struggled to unpack the tempest of emotion that had just swept through him. Cody’s mental walls hadn’t rebuilt themselves yet, and there was no way of hiding. Now that the fierce and unpredictable anger had broken through, the energy surrounding Cody came through clearly as undeniable fear and uncertainty, and an unexpected warmth that reached out to Obi-Wan. With sad eyes, Obi-Wan took Cody’s hand in his to keep it from shaking.

“Cody. I never meant to worry you. I am sorry for… _all_ of this. I didn’t mean to set a- a- double standard, or anything of the sort. I only ever wanted to keep you safe.” Obi-Wan’s heart stuttered as the realization finally set in that it was he who had inadvertently caused Cody’s distress.

Cody’s mouth opened and closed several times, evidently struggling to form a coherent response. When he finally spoke, he avoided eye contact entirely. “I’m sorry, sir, that was out of line. It won’t happen again.”

“You needn’t apologize, my friend, you had every right to be angry.”

Cody didn’t respond. Bit by bit, Obi-Wan sensed the man’s mental barriers reconstructing themselves. Still, a residual dismal energy remained in the air like fine mist left over after a storm. The ghost of a grateful smile tugged at the corner of his lips, though, and Obi-Wan smiled gently in return before saying, “Well, in any case, I am glad that you all made it out in one piece.”

With a distant, faintly mournful look in his eyes, Cody stepped back from Obi-Wan and moved to stand beside him. He picked up his helmet and dusted it off carefully. Obi-Wan could not help but admire the determined set of Cody’s strong jaw as he checked over its scopes and visor with painstaking care until he was satisfied with its condition. Cody’s eyes stayed pointedly fixed on his handiwork, his mind’s fortifications stabilizing more and more with every second he spent on the helmet. By the time he finished, everything had settled back to a stable calm. Obi-Wan could not stop staring, marveling at the beauty of his commander’s resolve, and, if he was being entirely honest, the beauty of his commander.

They both stood there together without speaking, breathing in the cool air as they took in the setting suns. The golden light turned the deep brown of Cody’s irises into warm, inviting molten amber. Some unidentifiable creature far below them let out a long, clear, wistful cry that echoed off of the craggy mountainside. Another cry sounded out in response from somewhere else. The suns started to dip below the horizon, filtering through the trees and casting creeping indigo shadows. Obi-Wan’s mind began to wander, wondering if the two calling creatures had found one another, or if they still searched in silence, hopeful and desperate.

Cody’s low voice cut through the quiet dusk, breaking Obi-Wan’s reverie. “What now, sir?”

“Well, the mission is clearly over,” he remarked mildly. He stretched slowly and rolled his neck to relieve the tension that had collected in his sore muscles. “I suppose all we can do is wait. I expect you’re right about our rescue — we have a long night ahead of us.”

Cody nodded curtly. “Guess we better settle in, then.”

The air had begun to chill as the sunlight faded, and he suddenly wished that he had thought to bring a fire-starter, or a cloak. Cody strode over to the pile of rubble that blocked the cave entrance and knelt beside it. With a fascinating combination of nonchalance and deft precision, he began to methodically remove his armor piece by piece, stacking them neatly. Obi-Wan felt as though he should avert his eyes, but there was something captivating about it, the way he knew every facet and strap, the little snaps and grooves, the way that every piece fit into place in a certain order when he piled them up, how more and more of his black under layers emerged as he went on, until his outer shell was completely gone, revealing an almost unfamiliar creature, not made up of overlapping plates of hard plastoid-alloy composite, but a lithe human body with taut muscles and soft edges, warm skin and a ribcage that expanded and contracted with every breath. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen Cody without his helmet before, or even, once or twice, without the chest and shoulder plates, but this was different, somehow. Here, there was no danger of attack, no threat of invasion, no shifts to change, no scanners to monitor, just time to kill as they waited for someone to retrieve them come morning. The process of watching him take off every piece, one by one, felt like it verged on voyeurism. It was strangely intimate, raw, and he could not tear his eyes away.

“General Kenobi?”

Obi-Wan abruptly realized that he had been standing there and staring without a word. Cody raised a questioning eyebrow. “Sorry, Cody. Got lost in thought.”

“... Right.” A breeze passed through, and Cody’s eyes darted up momentarily, focused on something far away. Even now, he kept his guard up, always focused on any weaknesses, anything out of the ordinary, any potential danger. All of the clones were trained to be observant and calculating, but Cody’s dedication felt deeper than that, a personal commitment, something he took pride in. Obi-Wan decided to make it his mission to discover what Cody was beneath that armor, to allow him to let down those barriers, but safely this time, here where the world existed only for them, this temporary peaceful bubble.

He sat down beside his commander and began the process of taking off his belt, lightsaber, and minimal armor, stacking it in a pile that looked positively pitiful in comparison to Cody’s immaculate arrangement. As he did so, he winced and let out a pained sound before he could suppress it. His body ached beyond belief, and it hurt terribly to reach the final plate over his upper back. _Oh, for crying out loud._ He hated feeling this old and helpless; Obi-Wan knew logically, of course, that being violently cast through a wall of boulders would have this effect on anyone, and he was lucky to have escaped relatively unscathed, but annoyance sparked within him nonetheless.

Cody turned to him with concern. “Are you hurt, General?”

“No, nothing to be worried about. I’m afraid that wall of rock did not have a very favorable introduction to my back, that’s all.”

“Let me help you,” Cody said, and before Obi-Wan could say anything in protest, the commander’s hands were delicately lifting the final duraplast shell from his shoulders, freeing him from its confines. He sighed in relief and rolled his shoulders as Cody set the armor down, though even that sent a wave of pain through his bruised muscles.

“Thank you.” He looked at Cody fondly. Cody still leaned in close, a hand hovering near Obi-Wan’s shoulder, tentative, questioning.

“Let me at least get you some bacta.”

“Cody, I’m _fine,_ I assure you.”

But Cody would not take no for an answer, evidently, because in one fluid motion, the commander gripped Obi-Wan’s shoulder and pulled a stim pack seemingly out of thin air and injected him with it. Almost instantly, Obi-Wan’s muscles relaxed, and the pain ebbed away. He could still feel the bruising, but the relief was certainly noticeable. 

Obi-Wan examined Cody with renewed interest. He had not expected him to care so much, or to react with such stubborn determination. “You’re a good man, Cody.” 

“Just doing my duty, sir.”

He leaned against the boulders, trying to absorb the leftover heat that the stone still barely retained, but to no avail. The breeze felt less refreshing now, more biting, more dangerous. The light had faded, and everything turned gray and blue, the world totally drained of color but for the orange stripes of Cody’s armor and the rising cluster of moons. 

For a little while, they sat in comfortable silence as they took in the unfamiliar expanse of multicolored trees. Small spots of light from some unknown bioluminescent life forms blinked in and out of sight, like distorted reflections of the spread of stars above. Eventually, Cody forced Obi-Wan to accept his offer of a ration bar and a flask of water. He only took it when Cody begrudgingly agreed to eat and drink his share as well. _Always resourceful, this one_. He supposed Cody had to be, but it still charmed Obi-Wan somehow. Always so dutiful, always sharp, always on his toes. 

And yet, beyond that, over the long months, Obi-Wan had somehow managed to weasel his way under the principled commander’s defenses, poking fun at him until he started to poke fun back, and now, on an unfamiliar planet, trapped on a ledge high up on a lonely mountain, he could not be more grateful for his presence. The two of them were two sides of the same coin, one filling in for the other as needed, completing each other's sentences, understanding their ways of thinking, knowing what worked and what didn’t, what to say and what to let go of. He never really appreciated this enough in the heat of a mission. It was hard not to take their partnership for granted. In this situation, though, he could not avoid the truth of it, the unmistakable fact of their borderline codependency, their shared understanding, their connection both in battle, and, evidently, out of it. It occurred to him that this was the first time they’d spent a night camped out together without the company of other members of the 212th or Anakin or Rex.

A frigid gust of wind swept past, cutting mercilessly through his robes like they were made of nothing at all. He suppressed a shiver. “If it’s only going to get colder, I see no point in staying awake any longer. I say we turn in for the night.”

“Sleeping won’t ward off the cold, sir,” Cody pointed out dubiously.

He threw Cody a withering gaze. “No, but perhaps I’ll be able to ignore it better.”

“You know that’s not how it works.”

He kicked at Cody’s leg playfully. “I don’t care if that’s not how it works! I’m still going to sleep, and if you don’t rest, too, I’ll knock you out myself.”

Obi-Wan did his best to get comfortable on the bare rock face. He covered himself with one of his outer fabric wrappings as a pitiful excuse for a blanket and lay on his back with his hands interlocked behind his head, looking up at the stars. He examined the little family of moons, pastel orbs of orange, yellow, and ghostly blue, and wondered idly if they had names. The planet was almost entirely devoid of intelligent life, which was what had made the false distress signal so intriguing, so it was entirely possible that the moons had no names, no ancient legends, no embellished moral tales for bedtime stories. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cody settling down beside him, within arm’s reach, like they were camped out in a platoon, just barely enough space between each soldier to allow for them to roll over. He said nothing, merely breathing in the fresh and criminally cold mountain air. Cody’s proximity comforted Obi-Wan, though a small part of him also stirred with a restless energy in response. He persuaded his breath to slow gradually as he once again lowered his mental barriers so the Force could flow through him freely and connect him to his surroundings, his companion, himself, and hopefully allow him to rest.

Sleep did not come easily. When he did finally drift off, he found himself dreaming of an icy moon. Constellations of icicles decorated a bleak blue-white landscape. The stalagmites were impossible, of course, with no cave to create them, yet they populated the plain nonetheless, poking out like the painfully pointed teeth of a preposterously large beast. Obi-Wan could see no signs of life anywhere, and the wind howled through the craggy frozen outcroppings, whistling through cracks in the ice in eerie harmonies. He wandered for what felt like hours, his teeth chattering, eyes watering, crystals forming in his beard, joints growing stiff with the unyielding cold. This place was an endless labyrinth, and he could not focus his mind, could not form any coherent thoughts. All he could feel was a steadily increasing urgency and desperation and a gut-wrenching fear of loss and being lost. His boots skidded as he pressed on, leaning into the howling wind. Something was horribly wrong. He was so unbearably cold, so unbearably _alone._ One clear thought crystalized in his mind. _Cody. I must find Cody._

Obi-Wan was losing his grip on consciousness, his grip on the world, with the mind-altering cold, the limitless glacial expanse. He tried to reach out with his mind, to clear it, to find Cody, to find anyone, to connect with any living thing in this wretched tundra. He thought he felt something, then, something warm at the very edges of his consciousness. He reached out with a hand, then, subconsciously, desperately. He stumbled, slipped, fell to a knee, skidded on the ice, gasped as he hit the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He was now crawling forward with the last dregs of his draining strength as the cold sucked the life out of him. The indigo sky expanded far above him, pale icicles glittering cruelly in the dim light of the stars. The cruel beauty of the scene only added salt to the wound, a reminder that the world did not care whether he died, whether he would live to see Cody again, whether this was the end or just a terrible step in a never-ending journey. He cried out with as much energy as his exhausted lungs could muster, “ _Cody!”_

Obi-Wan erupted into consciousness with frightening fervor, lungs heaving, eyes wild, hair disheveled. His whole body sparked with electric adrenaline as the world fell back into place and his dream dissolved into the frosty night air. _Cody, I must find Cody._ For a moment, he did not feel the cold, only desperate dread and an incalculable longing. Then he blinked, and suddenly Obi-Wan realized that he was staring directly at Cody, who held his hand tightly, his eyes filled with worry. The relief that washed over him caught him by surprise. He hadn’t thought that Cody was _really_ gone, but the fear from his dream had been so gut-wrenchingly real. He realized suddenly that this was the warmth he had felt from his dream, the presence he had sensed when he had reached out. Without thinking about it, he instinctively squeezed Cody’s hand back. 

Even in the pale light of the moons, it wasn’t difficult for Obi-Wan to see the man’s concern. He tried to pull himself together and regain his composure, but his heart still raced and his breath still came in short spurts.

Cody leaned in closer and rubbed his thumb in circles on Obi-Wan’s hand in a way that he sensed was subconscious, unintentional, instinctive. In a soft voice, Cody asked, “Are you alright, sir?”

“I’m... fine, Cody, just… just a dream,” he murmured, still hunched over, propped on an elbow, Cody mirroring his position almost exactly. He tilted his head slightly, examining Cody more closely and noting the way the man lay on his side, somehow both in high alert and just a moment away from sleep. His hand was still clasped firmly in Cody’s. He swallowed and looked away quickly. “Sorry.”

“That’s alright, sir. I understand.”

Cody did not relinquish his grip. It steadied him, keeping his shivering at bay momentarily. What were the boundaries here? Had he overstepped? No, it was Cody who had taken his hand, to _comfort_ him after a strange nightmare. Obi-Wan did not move. He wanted to run, to turn away, to shut himself off, cut off this cursed attachment, ignore the comforting warmth that Cody could not possibly know radiated from him like a beacon of light, the life Force reaching out to Obi-Wan without restraint. He prayed that Cody would not notice the spike in his pulse. For once, he did not speak. His heart raced, but the adrenaline from the nightmare was slowly wearing off, and in its place came the insidious cold.

Cody opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. He looked at Obi-Wan again until he was forced to return his gaze. “I… get them too.”

“Pardon?”

“Nightmares. I get them, too. I know what it’s like.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I think a lot of us do. It’s best to let them pass.” Cody broke their eye contact for a split second. “If you want, sir, you can… tell me about it. Ease your mind.”

The man sounded so tentative and uncomfortable that even if he’d felt the need to discuss his dream, he didn’t think it was fair to make him listen. “It’s quite alright, Cody. I think it would be best to go back to sleep.” _And besides, what good would it do?_ How could he explain the desperation, the raw fear, the shameful, unbidden attachment he felt?

He settled onto his back, but Cody remained propped up on one elbow, looking down at Obi-Wan. Something stirred within him, that now-familiar unbidden restless energy collecting in his ribcage. He tried to get comfortable, but Cody still studied him with that shrewd gaze of his. Finally, Obi-Wan relented with a sigh and turned to face him. “Cody, you’re staring. What is it?”

“You... called out my name. In your dream.”

_Oh, dear._ “Did I? My apologies.”

“I was in your dream,” he said with an unreadable expression. This was a fact, not a question.

Obi-Wan froze. He did not know how to respond to this. The adrenaline from the nightmare had completely worn off now, and he had begun to shudder again. Obi-Wan had to put all of his energy into keeping his teeth from chattering. There was no way of hiding it now, to his great embarrassment. He tried to brush it off casually, downplaying the terror that had gutted him in the dream, and before that, outside the collapsed tunnel. “Well, you see, that was the problem. You _weren’t._ I was trying to _find_ you.”

“And… _that_ was your nightmare? Me _not being there?_ ”

The man’s gaze was unavoidable. “Yes, if you must know. Now, can we _please_ just get some rest?”

He turned over on his side, letting go of Cody’s hand with some reluctance, but he could feel Cody’s eyes on him, and the commander clearly had no intention of going back to sleep. 

“You’re shaking.”

“Of course I am, I’m bloody cold, how could I not be?”

It did not help that the stone beneath him was practically an ice block.

“General, you could get frostbite-”

“Well, what do you suggest I do about that? There’s no way to make a fire out here, and neither of us have any other source of warmth, unless you’re hiding a quilt in those pouches of yours.”

He’d rolled onto his back again. He could clearly see the uncertain line of Cody’s mouth as the man tried to articulate his thoughts.

“General, it might help if we… shared body heat.” Yet again Cody’s usually unbreakable gaze flickered away. 

His eyes narrowed to mask his racing heart. The methodical, strategic mind of his commander appeared to war with something else within him, something Obi-Wan could not name. “What are you getting at?”

Cody adjusted his position slightly and reached out a hand. “I don’t mean to overstep, but… may I?”

His breath caught in his throat. “By all means. Anything to keep this blasted cold at bay.”

Obi-Wan was no fool, but he wasn’t expecting (or, perhaps, if he was being honest, he wouldn’t let himself hope for) … this.

Cody moved closer to Obi-Wan, deliberately, carefully, gently. He lifted the makeshift blanket and laid it down over both of their bodies, and then he wrapped an arm around Obi-Wan’s waist, pressing his warm body up against his side. The cloth didn’t even cover their feet, but it kept some of the heat in where it did cover them. Obi-Wan had to remind himself to breathe as Cody settled his head against Obi-Wan’s shoulder. _Well. This was certainly an interesting development._ He instinctively slid his arm underneath Cody to prevent his circulation from being cut off and to bring him closer. Sleep was the last thing on his mind now. For once in his life, he could not think of a single thing to say.

Cody looked up at him. He was so close that Obi-Wan could feel Cody’s breath whispering against his skin. “Is this alright, General?”

Obi-Wan could not stifle his laugh. “Please, Cody, you don’t have to call me that all the time. Obi-Wan is just fine.”

“Got it, Gen- I mean, Obi-Wan.” 

His voice softened. “And yes. This is… definitely alright.”

Cody nestled closer against Obi-Wan’s neck, sending shivers down his spine, and not because of the cold this time. He swallowed.

Obi-Wan looked up at the stars and tried to muster up the courage to speak. “You were right, you know. This is much better.”

With that, he shifted to face Cody slightly and held him close, burying his face in Cody’s hair, which was surprisingly soft. He did not know what had gotten into him, but something about their complete isolation, the absurdity of the situation, and the delirious cold had given him a burst of adrenaline-fueled bravery, and he could not take it back now. _Blast_ his racing heart. He felt Cody stiffen slightly, then relax again.

Cody’s voice hummed low against his chest. “Are you okay, sir?”

“More than okay. You’re very warm.” He wanted to say that this felt more _right_ than anything he’d ever experienced, that Cody’s head on his chest gave him more comfort than he cared to admit, that he wanted to grab his hand again and never let go, that _warm_ could not possibly encapsulate the swell of heat that Cody kindled within his heart. But he said nothing. Obi-Wan merely basked in this moment while he could.

Cody let out a very small _oh,_ and then Obi-Wan felt him relax completely, his arm still draped over Obi-Wan’s waist. Cody’s hair brushed against his lips, and he suddenly felt the unbidden urge to plant a kiss on the top of his head. _What a silly idea._ He didn’t do it. Instead, he let himself go, drifting off into foggy dreams lined with a fuzzy, grounding warmth.

  
  
  
-  
  
  
  


Cody did not sleep. Instead, he listened to Kenobi’s heartbeat slow gradually along with his breathing, until his head began to lean further into Cody’s hair, completely lost in whatever dreams a Jedi general might have. Eventually, Kenobi —no, _Obi-Wan,_ he reminded himself — turned onto his side, facing Cody, resulting in Cody’s hand resting on the dip of his waist, his other arm lying between them, hand dangerously close to touching Obi-Wan’s. He started to extend his fingers to take the other man’s hand, then stopped.

_This was not how it was supposed to go._

He had been precise, logical. General Kenobi had been shaking, teeth chattering. Cody had been cold, too, but he knew that if he were closer to Kenobi, the shared warmth might be enough to keep the cold at bay for both of them. It made sense —two human bodies would have a better chance at sharing and retaining heat together than they would apart. He had done this before when camped out on scouting missions or long sieges in low-temperature climates, collections of clones piled together like a pack of loth wolves, huddled together for warmth. And yet this felt different somehow. Making the suggestion had felt like a step into the terrifying unknown, something he could not turn back from, something that did not have a handbook, a procedure, or a code. But he’d taken the plunge, and Kenobi had accepted him with open arms, quite literally, and now…

Now he traced the line of Obi-Wan’s jaw with his eyes, tracking the neat cut of his beard, admiring the precision, the care that the Jedi clearly took to maintain it. Cody looked, and looked, and looked, as if he’d never seen Kenobi’s face before, because in this ghostly light, as he slept peacefully, his features softened, the lines under his eyes melted away, his tense brows finally relaxed, and his lips parted ever-so-slightly. Cody drank him in for as long as he could, not wanting this moment to end, not wanting to let go, because he didn’t know if he would ever see this again, if he’d ever see his general so vulnerable and open, so soft and unguarded. Time passed on, and Obi-Wan shifted in his sleep again. His leg hooked around Cody’s, seeking more warmth where the fabric wrapping blanket could not cover. And then Obi-Wan’s eyes fluttered open, still heavy-lidded with sleep. They lay facing each other, curled up slightly with their legs interlaced lazily, hands just barely touching. 

“You’re staring,” Obi-Wan whispered, his voice barely audible, his heart in his throat.

“Sorry, sir. Can’t help it.” His gaze flicked down at Obi-Wan’s still-parted lips. There was something soft about this, something… _tempting_.

Obi-Wan’s gentle, inviting eyes, with his little teasing grin, were unbelievably intoxicating. His low voice sent a thrill down his spine. “Can’t help it?”

Cody swallowed. “You looked… peaceful.”

A nearly imperceptible shift. Words escaped them, and it was as if the otherworldly starlight had cast a strange sort of spell to shut out everything except for their two bodies intertwined on a lonely mountain ledge. Absurdly, Cody found himself unable to look anywhere other than the irresistible curve of Obi-Wan’s lips, the maddening spark of _something more_ in his gray-blue eyes, the stray strands of soft, sandy hair falling across his face, and he wanted to move closer, to tilt his head and find out for himself how soft his lips were, how warm to the touch, how they would fit together with his. But he knew General Kenobi, knew that a Jedi Master would never consider it, would never allow it, condone it, bring himself anywhere near the possibility, and Cody knew that he was a fool for even entertaining the thought. How illogical, how unlike him to go against procedure, to step outside the grid of rules and protocols. He was not a machine, however, and it seemed that even he had his weaknesses, his soft spots, places where he could not apply a strategy or a policy. _What had gotten into him?_

And then, as Cody despaired over his racing heart and compromised emotions, Obi-Wan leaned in, closing the gap between them, and kissed Cody. For a fraction of a second, his mind went completely blank, as if he had short-circuited, blown a fuse, shut down, and then he kissed him back with a desperate fervor. He had been right - Obi-Wan’s lips were soft, his touch gentle, his skin warm, and Cody could not get enough of it. He didn’t want this dream to end. Obi-Wan’s hand came to rest at the nape of Cody’s neck, and then he buried his fingers in Cody’s hair and pressed himself closer. Cody inhaled sharply as their thighs slotted together, kiss deepening, until they had to stop to breathe.

Obi-Wan let his forehead rest against Cody’s. For what could have been hours, though it was likely mere seconds, they did not speak, and simply breathed in each other’s air, reveling in this impossible moment. Obi-Wan’s fingers ghosted lightly over the strip of exposed skin on his neck just above the high collar of his black undershirt. Cody couldn’t remember the last time this amount of adrenaline had rushed through him outside of battle. He had never felt so _alive,_ and at the same time, he had never been so afraid. _How is this happening? What about the Code?_

Cody’s throat began to close up as panic welled up inside him. Obviously sensing the abrupt change, Obi-Wan’s eyes — clear, welcoming, adoring, gray-blue tinged with sea-foam green, beautiful — met his with concern, and his hand slipped down to cup Cody’s face comfortingly.

“Did I do something wrong, my dear?” His voice was low, almost a purr, and it took all of Cody’s strength not to kiss him again despite the anxiety within him. “I’m terribly sorry if I misjudged, I didn’t mean to-”

“No!” Cody blurted out quickly. Then, softer, “No. You didn’t - you didn’t do anything… wrong, I only… why? I mean, you can’t… I thought that…” Suddenly, he couldn’t seem to get the words out.

Obi-Wan smiled gently. “You thought _what_?”

To Cody’s shock, Obi-Wan pulled him into another kiss, chaste this time, short, sweet. He let himself close his eyes for a brief moment, then withdrew again. “I assumed that the Code…”

Obi-Wan cut him off with a pointedly exasperated but good natured look. “The Jedi Code is often misinterpreted. I’ve spent my life far too afraid of straying from the beaten path that I neglected to listen to my own heart. Cody, I didn’t make a mistake. I’ve made up my mind. This isn’t breaking the code. Not _mine,_ at any rate.”

After all this time sticking to standard procedures and protocols, this should have been difficult to process, but Cody found that it actually made more sense than anything ever had. Every day he spent with General Obi-Wan Kenobi pushed him to his limit in a myriad of ways. He had learned to be quick on his feet, to trust in uncertainty (to trust in the Force), to return Obi-Wan’s infuriatingly cheeky jabs with equal strength, and to hold his heart close. This last piece was not something Obi-Wan had taught him. It was something that he’d gradually realized was necessary for his survival. Little things began to carve away at his heart, so many times that he could hardly keep track. Every time his general risked his life to save a single clone. Every time he chastised Anakin for indulging in unnecessary risks despite Obi-Wan’s tendency to jeopardize his own safety to protect others. Every time he allowed himself a wolfish grin in the eye of the storm as he cut down dozens of battle droids with ferocious, deadly precision. Every time he paced deliberately around a holomap with pensive eyebrows knit together and a hand stroking his red-blonde, gray streaked beard. Every time he looked at Cody with that unreadable, imploring gaze. With every added moment on this neverending list, Cody felt as though he lost his footing, became more and more untethered, like his heart was slowly and painfully changing into something else, something unfamiliar and exposed and filled with a terrifying, all-consuming _yearning._

This did not fit in with his battle plans and operations codes, his stratagems and detailed procedures, the precise and rigid nature that he had been created and trained to maintain. And yet, against all odds, he had found himself forming his own sets of rules, rules that applied only to his heart and to Obi-Wan, rules that only meant anything to _him,_ to _Cody._ A personal code - don’t let your vulnerable heart interfere with the fate of your missions, don’t let your eyes hold contact with the General’s for more than three seconds, don’t overstep any boundaries, and please, please, please, find it within yourself to let this rest, to allow time to pass, to be patient, patient, patient.

“So,” Cody finally said, trying to keep his voice steady, “You’re sure that I - that _this -_ won’t get you in trouble?”

“Cody, you must realize that _I_ kissed _you._ You did nothing wrong. And you can’t be sure of anything in life, I’m afraid, but no, I don’t foresee any problems. _And_ ,” Obi-Wan said with a sly wink, “what the Jedi Council doesn’t know won’t hurt them.”

Cody’s eyes widened at that. “Couldn’t you be expelled from the Order?”

“For attachment? Perhaps. But the way I see it, attachment is a twisted form of love, one that can easily turn possessive and lead to jealousy. This… is not the same thing.” He ran his fingers through Cody’s soft, short-cropped curls. “What I care about is _you;_ making sure that _you_ feel comfortable.”

Cody thought he might melt. Before this, before Obi-Wan, nobody had ever paid this much attention to him with this much care. He had his brothers, of course, but this was different. To have someone - no, to have _Obi-Wan -_ specifically say that _his_ feelings held more importance than the Jedi Code, than any possible consequence, made him feel like someone had stolen the breath from his lungs.

“I do feel comfortable. I only wanted to make sure,” Cody said, and then _he_ pulled Obi-Wan in for another kiss, his hand pressed to the small of his back, legs still entwined, a bright burst of sparks igniting in his chest, straining to break open his ribcage and bare his heart for all to see (for Obi-Wan to see). Obi-Wan’s hand returned to Cody’s hair, and he leaned into his touch. A soft sound escaped his lips unbidden when he felt nimble fingers tangle in his neatly trimmed hair, just long enough for Obi-Wan to gently pull (he didn’t know that something like this could feel _good)._

_This wasn’t how it was supposed to go._

And Cody could not care less, because he now knew the taste of Obi-Wan’s lips, knew the smell of his hair, knew the smooth texture of his skin, knew the look in his eyes that told Cody everything he needed without saying a single word. Obi-Wan tugged at Cody’s lower lip with his teeth, and Cody responded by moaning softly and then opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. He could not get enough of this. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Obi-Wan Kenobi, from the salty-sweet taste of his skin to the cadence of his heart. He pulled back for half a second and his lips brushed against Obi-Wan’s beard instead, and he wanted to know this feeling, too. He would give up any code just for this, for the safety of an empty ledge, under only a discarded outer layer of a Jedi robe to ward off the forgotten cold, in the arms of his idiotic, loving, one-of-a-kind general. _His Jedi. His Jedi. His Jedi._

Cody kissed Obi-Wan one last time and then held him close. Their noses pressed together. He could feel Obi-Wan’s breath on his lips, his eyelashes fluttering lightly against his face.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Cody whispered fiercely. “That stunt in the tunnel. I mean it. Promise me you won’t.”

Obi-Wan pulled back and tilted Cody’s chin up to look him in the eyes. Even without the Force, Cody could feel the passion radiating from him. “I promise. But only if you promise not to dive through an explosive blast for me again, either.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“We should probably _actually_ sleep now, dearest,” he said with a rueful smile. “We don’t want to fall asleep on the job tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He groaned and brought Obi-Wan closer again, wrapping his leg around him and trapping him in his embrace as the Jedi laughed with surprise. Cody wished fervently that this could last forever, but he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that they would have any moments of peace like this again any time soon. He buried his face into Obi-Wan’s soft, mussed up hair. With a more serious tone, he asked, “What are we going to do?”

“We wait until a transport can come to retrieve us?” Obi-Wan said cheekily into the crook of Cody’s neck, at which Cody scoffed in mock annoyance.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Obi-Wan sighed and relented. “We’ll play it by ear. I don’t see any reason for anyone to question us, and I have no doubts that you’re capable of being subtle.”

“That isn’t a very comprehensive plan, sir.”

“Oh, don’t ‘sir’ me now, Cody. As you well know, our plans tend to go awry no matter what, so perhaps now is the time for patience and flexibility.”

“You know,” he says with a raised eyebrow that Obi-Wan could not see, “from what I’ve seen, you tell Skywalker about patience being a virtue more times than anyone can count, but I don’t think it’s a frequently used tool in your repertoire.”

“Enough talking, more sleeping.” This was muttered against Cody’s chest. He shook his head slightly with amusement. _Predictably stubborn._

Cody rubbed circles on Obi-Wan’s shoulder with his thumb. The warmth of Obi-Wan’s steady breathing comforted him, and he wondered what in the universe he’d done to deserve this. He was half afraid that if he let go, if he stopped clinging, if he closed his eyes, this would all disappear. But for now, he pushed that thought aside and allowed himself to drift off, his Jedi sleeping soundly in his arms.

  
  
  
  
-

This time around, Obi-Wan awoke slowly. He was blissfully warm, a welcome change from the night before. A less welcome change, however, was the stiff discomfort in his neck from lying on Cody’s arm for several hours, and he groaned softly as he adjusted his position. He felt Cody stir beside him, and he instinctively rolled over to snuggle up against him. Then it hit him - _I’m sleeping next to Cody._

His eyes shot open when he remembered their situation. To his shock, he found himself looking directly into the eyes of one unblinking Captain Rex of the 501st Legion, haloed by the bright light of the sun. _Blast._

“Rise and shine, General. And good morning to you, too, Cody. You two get your beauty rest? It was quite the adventure trying to find you out here, and here you are, sleeping the day away.” Rex chuckled as Cody practically jumped out of his skin and scrambled to his feet. “Relax. Let’s get you both back to the Negotiator where you belong.”

Obi-Wan came to his senses and stood as well, picking up his discarded outer robe as he did. He winced as he stretched his neck and back. “Thank you for coming, Rex. Sorry that our men had to call you in. I assume they told you about the mine. After the tunnel caved in, there was no other way out, and our transports couldn’t get up here.”

The standard assault transport hovered by the ledge. It appeared to be manned by only the pilot, Dart, Ev, and Hotshot. Part of him was glad - this way, nobody else had to see… well, whatever this was. He carefully maintained a relaxed expression, though in reality, his heart was in his throat. It wasn’t exactly that he’d been _bluffing_ last night with his nonchalance in regards to the relationship developing between him and Cody and what it meant if anyone were to find out, but when faced with possible discovery so quickly after they themselves had launched themselves into the unknown was a bit more nerve-wracking than he cared to admit.

Rex eyed them both shrewdly. “Not a problem, sir. It happens to the best of us. We should just get out of here.”

“Yes, of course.” He hastily slipped his armor back on before going to help Cody with his. It wasn’t that he thought he needed help, but the commander had much more to deal with, and he wanted to be useful. However, Cody would have none of it.

“I don’t need any help, General Kenobi. I’ll be fine, just get on the ship.” For a split second, Obi-Wan worried that Cody had changed his mind about last night, but when he met his gaze, Cody’s eyes were gentle, and he smiled. Obi-Wan turned towards the ship. Dart poked his head out with a grin. Obi-Wan chuckled, relieved to see that they were all unharmed. He had no doubt that it would take something far greater than a near-death experience with a mine to dampen the young soldier’s spirits.

As he stepped onto the transport and looked back, he saw Rex give Cody an unmistakable, knowing look. Cody’s face went through what looked like all five stages of grief, and then Obi-Wan barely caught his strained response. “ _Not. A. Word,”_ Cody growled, before whirling around and picking up his helmet, his ears bright red, as Rex observed with an almost uncharacteristic shit-eating grin.

_So much for secrecy._ Obi-Wan did his best to maintain a poker face and hoped fervently that the three clones had missed that. As the captain and the commander made their way over, Rex eyed Obi-Wan with the tiniest of smiles, but said nothing. Cody stepped up and stood on Rex’s other side, as if that would somehow undo all of Rex’s suspicions. Obi-Wan laughed quietly to himself and stroked his beard, shaking his head.

_Well. This should certainly be interesting._


End file.
